Hold this Thought - Philosophy

Pope John Paul II?s Centesimus Annus: Chris Reichman

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 01:00:00 -0700

Susan B. Thistlethwaite, former president of the Chicago Theological Seminary, writes:

"St. Augustine looked at the horrors barbarian invaders were inflicting on the Roman citizens and he asked himself if a Christian could ever justify going to war. He answered a very qualified 'yes.' A Christian can go to war if it is to 'defend the vulnerable other.' His version didn't even include self-defense."

More than 1500 years later, in 1991, Pope John Paul II issued his encyclical letter in which he declared: "I myself, on the occasion of the recent tragic war in the Persian Gulf, repeated the cry: "Never again war!" No, never again war, which destroys the lives of innocent people, teaches how to kill, throws into upheaval even the lives of those who do the killing and leaves behind a trail of resentment and hatred, thus making it all the more difficult to find a just solution of the very problems which provoked the war."

The Book of Qualities: Anne Nevaldine

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:00:00 -0700

As a clinical psychologist, I was impressed with the way author J. Ruth Gendler transforms 74 human emotions into living, breathing characters in The Book of Qualities. This is Anxiety's story:

"Anxiety is secretive. He does not trust anyone, not even his friends, Worry, Terror, Doubt, and Panic. He has a way of glombing onto your skin like smog, and then you feel unclean. He likes to visit me late at night when I am alone and exhausted. I have never slept with him, but he kissed me on the forehead once, and I had a headache for two years. He is sure a nuisance to get out of the house. He has no respect for locks or curtains or doors. I speak from experience. It takes cunning to get rid of him, a combination of anger, humor, and self-respect. A bath helps too. He does not like to get wet. As a last resort, if you are not near a bathtub, wet your face with tears."

A Guest of the World: Julie Varee

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 01:00:00 -0700

National Philanthropy Day is celebrated in November, and provides a perfect partner to Thanksgiving.

In his book of meditations, A Guest of the World, Jeffrey Lockwood writes:

"The most important thing that I've learned in traveling to more than twenty countries is the art of being a guest.
...
We are all visitors -- even when we are home. Our time in any relationship or place is ultimately limited. We are passing through; nobody stays forever. How might we act if we consider ourselves guests in the lives of friends and family? ...

The good guest ... simply allows the other person to be a good host -- to share his gifts, to play her music, to tell his stories, to show her places, and to serve his foods. ...

We might also think of ourselves as uninvited, but not unwelcome, guests of the planet. And I think the rules for being a good guest of the world are just the same: Ask little, accept what is offered, and give thanks."

The Wealth of Nations: Gunnar Knapp

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 01:00:00 -0700

Here is one of the great paradoxes of economics: the most effective way to help others may be by pursuing our own self-interest -- as argued in these famous passages from The Wealth of Nations, published in 1776 by the economist Adam Smith.

"...[M]an has almost constant occasion for the help of his brethren.... He will be more likely to prevail if he can interest their self-love in his favour, and shew them that it is for their own advantage to do for him what he requires of them.

... Give me that which I want, and you shall have this which you want.... It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest....

[Every individual] generally ... intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention. ... By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it."

One Hand Clapping: Eiden Pospisil

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 01:00:00 -0700

I wrote to Rafe Martin, author of One Hand Clapping, as part of the Letters About Literature contest, sponsored in Alaska by Alaska Center for the Book. The book tells several Zen stories, one of which is titled "The Zen Master and the Samurai":

'Once a samurai came before Zen Master Hakuin.

"You're supposed to be a great Zen master," he said. "So I want you to tell me the truth about heaven and hell. Do they really exist?"

Without a moment's hesitation Hakuin responded, "What, even such an ugly and untalented man as you can become a samurai? Amazing!"

Immediately, the proud samurai became angry and drew his sword. "I'll kill you!" he roared.

Fearlessly Hakuin said, "This is hell."

The samurai paused and grew thoughtful. His face softened from its angry scowl. Sheathing his sword he put his hands together palm to palm and bowed before Hakuin.

"And this," said Hakuin, just as calmly, "is heaven."'

Enemies of Promise: Jack Roderick

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 01:00:00 -0700

In Enemies of Promise, Cyril Connolly quotes from W.H. Auden's poem "As He Is," in which Auden speaks of "fresh defeats." Here Connolly quotes Auden:

"Determined on time's honest shield
The lamb must face the Tigress,

and, [Connolly continues], the Tigress may win for in spite of the slow conversion of progressive ideas into the fact of history, the Dark Ages have a way of coming back. Civilisation -- the world of affection and reason and freedom and justice -- is a luxury which must be fought for, as dangerous to possess as an oil-field or an unlucky diamond."

One Hand Clapping: Eiden Pospisil

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 01:00:00 -0700

"A man was walking across a field when he saw a tiger. He fled, but the tiger ran after him. Coming to the edge of a cliff, he spied the root of a wild vine. Grabbing on to it, he swung himself down over the edge, out of reach of the tiger. He was safe!

The tiger came to the edge and sniffed at him from above. Trembling, the man looked down and saw another ferocious tiger prowling below. Only the thin vine held him.

Two mice, one white and one black, scurried out of a nearby nest in the cliff and began gnawing at the vine. As they chewed, the man saw a luscious strawberry on a nearby ledge. Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other.

Ah, how sweet it tasted!"

Tales of the Hasidim: Peggy Kugel

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 01:00:00 -0700

In several of his books, Martin Buber tells the story of a famous Hassidic rabbi, Abraham Yaakov of Sadagora. The rabbi insisted that something can be learned from everything, even from the inventions of his time.

"Everything can teach us something, and not only everything God has created. What man has made has also something to teach us."
   "What can we learn from a train?" one [student] asked dubiously.
   "That because of one second one can miss everything."
   "And from the telegraph?"
   "That every word is counted and charged."
   "And the telephone?"
   "That what we say here is heard there."

The Open Road: Susan Derrera

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 01:00:00 -0700

In The Open Road: The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Pico Iyer writes:

[The Buddha] 'had no wish to spread his discoveries, since he didn't feel confident that they would be of use or interest to anyone else; the essence of his teaching, famously was "Be lamps unto yourselves" and "Seek no refuge but yourself." But when he became convinced that there might be some virtue in talking of his own experience, he spent the last forty-five years of his life ceaselessly traveling. . . . Although he engaged in public debates, he repeatedly shied away from cosmic questions as distractions, perhaps, from the main concern.

"Forget about next life," I once heard the Dalai Lama say.... "This very life should be useful to others. If not, at least no harm."'

The Ice Is Melting: Martha Gould-Lehe

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 01:00:00 -0700

Chief Oren Lyons of the Turtle Clan of the Onondaga Nation, in one of the Annual E. F. Schumacher Society Lectures, describes leadership amongst his people:

"When you sit in your council for the welfare of the people, think not of yourself or of your family or of your generation. [The Great Peacemaker] said, Make your decision on behalf of the seventh generation coming. That was the instruction of a thousand years ago. It's good instruction for leadership. And when the Council of Chiefs at Onondaga meets, we actually do try to see seven generations ahead. We try, and let me tell you, it's pretty murky. I can remember a time when I thought I could see seven generations, but not now. And it keeps getting harder to see."

The Open Road: Susan Derrera

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:00:00 -0700

In The Open Road: The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Pico Iyer writes:

"[The Dalai Lama] told me that sometimes he felt that he could never do enough, and that nothing he did could ever really affect things. . . . He told me that it was "up to us poor humans to make the effort," one step at a time, and again, as if invoking the final words of the Buddha, he spoke of "constant effort, tireless effort, pursuing clear goals with sincere effort."

Then as we were walking out of the room, he went back and turned off the light. It's such a small thing, he said, it hardly makes a difference at all. And yet nothing is lost in the doing of it, and maybe a little good can come of it, if more and more people remember this small gesture in more and more rooms."

Thich Nhat Hanh: Essential Writings: Scott Banks

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 01:00:00 -0700

In the book Thich Nhat Hanh: The Essential Writings, this Buddhist monk talks about the importance of living in the present.

"Our true home is in the present moment. To live in the present moment is a miracle. The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green Earth in the present moment, to appreciate the peace and beauty that are available now. Peace is all around us - in the world and in nature - and within us - in our bodies and in our spirits. Once we learn to touch this peace, we will be healed and transformed. It is not a matter of faith; it is a matter of practice. We need only to find ways to bring our body and mind back to the present moment so we can touch what is refreshing, healing and wondrous."

Democracy and Education in the World of Today: Mary Snyder

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 01:00:00 -0700

A quote from John Dewey, who advocated that schools should educate for democracy:

"...[W]e have more or less unconsciously assumed that the work of establishing a democracy was completed by the founding fathers or when the Civil War abolished slavery. We tend to think of it as something that has been established and that remains for us simply to enjoy.

We have had ... a conception of democracy as something static, as something that is like an inheritance that could be bequeathed, a kind of lump sum that we could live off and upon. ...[E]very generation has to accomplish democracy over again for itself; ... its very nature, its essence, is something that cannot be handed on from one person or one generation to another, but has to be worked out in terms of needs, problems and conditions...."

Peace Is Every Step: Robert Hernández

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 01:00:00 -0700

In his book Peace Is Every Step, Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh reflects on the Cookie of Childhood.

"When I was four years old, my mother used to bring me a cookie every time she came home from the market. I always went to the front yard and took my time eating it, sometimes half an hour or forty-five minutes for one cookie. I would take a small bite and look up at the sky. Then I would touch the dog with my feet and take another small bite. I just enjoyed being there, with the sky, the earth, the bamboo thickets, the cat, the dog, the flowers. I was able to do that because I did not have much to worry about. I did not think of the future. I did not regret the past. I was entirely in the present moment, with my cookie, the dog, the bamboo thickets, the cat, and everything.

It is possible to eat our meals as slowly and joyfully as I ate the cookie of my childhood. ... We can eat in a way that we restore the cookie of our childhood."

Maya Angelou at Centenary College: Kim-Marie Walker

Thu, 22 May 2008 01:00:00 -0700

On March 6, 1990, Maya Angelou spoke at Centenary College of Louisiana. She described a performance she gave in Morocco:

‘She stood before more than 4000 Arabs and sang a slave song passed to her from her grandmother. As the entire audience rose to their feet and cheered for her, she understood the significance.

"Finally, I came to understand that great literature belongs to all people of all times. What it means to say is that someone has been lonely before you. Someone has thought of suicide before you. Someone has been sexually upset before you. Someone has been abused and neglected before you. And yet someone has come through and survived. That is what literature is supposed to do."'